Have so far had a fantastic response to my announcement yesterday that I have joined the Labour leadership race, including messages of good luck from Ed Balls and Ed Miliband. Reactions from people have been overwhelmingly positive and I think the grassroots of the Party really appreciate me using social media to try and speak to normal people.
One of the few concerns people have raised is that I am another white man and many feel that the contest still lacks diversity. I disagree. What I have added to this contest already is diversity of thought – I am still the only candidate who has openly talked about the subject of police helmets, something which, once brought to their attention, really worries people.
I’m not going to pretend that Parliament as a whole doesn’t need to reflect society more, it really does. A little known fact is that there are 2.5 million unemployed people in the UK. In the House of Commons, there are none.
Is this right? No.
Are the unemployed being sufficiently represented? No.
Do I have the answer? No. But it’s not always about having the answer right away. It’s about seeing a problem and then trying to find what is causing it. I’m not claiming to have all the solutions to the problems, but at least I’m aware of what the problems are.
Please leave a comment or contact me on Twitter with how you feel we (not I, we) could best tackle this botheration, or other issues you feel are being ignored.
